Eliminate Boredom

As human beings, we are in a constant quest to reduce pain
and increase pleasure in our lives.
Everything we do can really be traced back to that basic concept.

Boredom is one of the most common forms of
“pain” in our society today. It is a
relatively new phenomenon, and like many other issues related to “modern life”
it is increasing at a rapid pace.

So, to eliminate boredom (and, therefore, decrease the pain associated with "being bored"), it's important to understand how it manifests in our lives and how we can deal with it.

As the
box to the right shows, the definition of boredom relates to “discomfort” and
“lack of interest”. For most people this
means a lack of interest in “anything”.
Being bored generally means there is a feeling of nothing “fun” or
“exciting” to do. There is nothing that
motivates or invigorates us.

Boredom: The state of
being weary and restless through lack of interest; marked by an empty feeling;
the discomfort of having nothing to do.

Boredom is marked by an empty feeling, as well as
frustration with that emptiness. It is characterized by the perception of one's
environment as dull, tedious, and lacking in stimulation. People who are bored frequently have a
limited attention span and a lack of interest in goings-on around them. People
who are bored can sometimes seem apathetic and fatigued, and sometimes seem
nervous and jittery.

The average person watches television 5 hours per
day – an all time high. That translates
to over 3 months out of every year watching TV – or 15 years over a lifetime. Fifteen years watching TV!! Does that sound okay to you? If so, I say, get a life! If not, then read on to discover the
alternatives to eliminate boredom.

Why Are We Bored?

Partly because of advances in technology and the obsession
with always being connected, we are getting increasingly bored when we perceive
we are not being “entertained” in some way and when we don’t feel the sense of
constant stimulation. That’s why we do
many of the things we do that aren’t very productive – or even good for us (or
society). And, it’s really prevalent amongst children
today.

Yes, boredom is endemic to our culture – and the yearning
for distraction (because of the discomfort of feeling there is nothing to do)
can be intolerable for many people.

It is a relatively new phenomenon, too. In the past, there were not as many ways to
distract ourselves, so being “alone with our thoughts” was much more common –
and, therefore, more comfortable.

Now, however, our brains have become habituated
to constant stimulation, producing within us a need to maintain it.

Withdrawal from constant stimulation can lead
us to even resort to negative stimulation.
In fact, recent research shows that people would rather endure an
electric shock than just being alone in quiet thought. In kids, for example, if they are bored,
they may resort to getting in trouble as a way to “excite” themselves and feel
less bored.

As an alternative, we attempt to apply even more technology
to relieve ourselves of the boredom that results from immersion in a world of
technology. Again, we look to
entertainment – and our nearly constant craving for entertainment points
fundamentally to our unhappiness with our reality.

We are uncomfortable doing nothing partly due to the
relentless anxiety that dominates modern life.

But current levels of artificial stimulation are essentially
unnatural. Distraction is available
100% of the time with smart phones – “Tweets”, texting, FaceBook, etc.

Yes, as a society, we are addicted to stimulation and are
bored if we don’t get it. And it’s
getting worse. Children are going to
have a hard time with this since they are being brought up in this
technological tsunami. They won’t know
anything different. Wearable computing
is now a reality, and while there are many great things about advancements in
technology, is this the right direction we need to be going?

What to Do to Eliminate Boredom

Are you bored? Well,
let’s see. Here are just a few of the common signs of
boredom:

You want to do something but you feel too
uninterested, lazy, and tired - so you ignore doing the task or activity, but then
later you feel guilty for not doing it.

When you feel you don’t have anything
interesting to do, you tend to do things over the limit such as over-eating, watching
too much TV, or over-exercising just to pass the time.

You are irritable, sensitive and emotional about
everything. You feel there is nothing to look forward to everyday and you
expect you will stay in the rut forever.

You lose the enthusiasm to interact with people.
You have that feeling that you should have company to feel better but you are
simply not in the mood to socialize.

Importantly, while boredom itself is not a serious mental
illness, long-term it can manifest as depression. [NOTE: In children, the difference between boredom and depression may be difficult to recognize. It is important to seek the help of a professional if you are concerned about it].

Once you have determined that you may be suffering from some
degree of boredom, fundamentally, you need to do what everyone needs to do to really BE HAPPY and fulfilled, and that is to know what really would make you happiest in life. I call it your personal Definition of Happiness.

Many people are "bored" simply because they don't know what they really want in their lives to be happy. So, I have made it easy to figure out. Just click on the "Get Instant Access" button below to get your "Definition of Happiness Creator", and the two FREE ebooks as a gift, too...

Next, since we are so "addicted" to constant stimulation in our fast-paced, technological society today, we must each build an ability to just sit
alone and think – or do nothing.

You can set aside an hour every day to just take a walk in a quiet, serene place - by yourself. Or, even better ...

Learn to meditate. Statistically, people who meditate
are significantly less likely to suffer from boredom. Click here
to learn about meditation and how to get started or just check out some
of the resources from Amazon.com to the left to get some simple,
practical ways to eliminate boredom, learn to meditate, or just be
happier in your life.

Bottom line, we all need to first know what we want and need to be happy and fulfilled by knowing our true Definition of Happiness. Then, we need to be able to spend time alone - just thinking or meditating, so that we can break the habit of needing constant stimulation.

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